Foothill dominates, rolls to victory over rival Tustin

TUSTIN - Foothill’s boys basketball team avenged its loss to Tustin last year with a 46-32 nonleague victory over the Tillers on Thursday night in front of a near capacity crowd at Tustin.

No. 6 Foothill (12-3) sprinted to a 12-2 lead after the first quarter and led, 25-11, at halftime. The game was postponed a night because of a leak in the Tustin gymnasium Wednesday.

“Getting an extra day of practice was good for us; we practiced well all week,” said Foothill coach Rusty Van Cleave. “We’ve had this mission since the last tournament. We know we have to get better offensively.

“Defensively, we’re doing a lot of good things and we have all year long. But offensively, we’ve got to get a better flow and rhythm going and I thought we practiced well and it showed throughout the game. It was nice to get some other kids a chance to play.”

Tustin won last year’s game over Foothill, 43-42, at Foothill, so the Knights were determined to notch the victory.

Foothill forced 19 turnovers by Tustin (6-9). The Knights were led by Connor Stinson, who scored 11 points, and Lucas Araujo, who scored nine points.

“We played one of the best teams in Orange County tonight who defend as well as any team in Southern California,” said Tustin coach Ringo Bossenmeyer. “We are a team that at times struggles to score and that makes for a difficult night.

“I am proud that our players kept competing for the full 32 minutes. Sagel Simon, Isiah Moorhouse and Haakon Ullrichall competed at a high level and were not intimidated by the big game atmosphere.”